Pic 179: Dating in a World on Fire Origin Stories (Patreon)

 This weeks pictures are mostly already in the 0.40 that I released in October. They represent the three "origin" stories I wrote for the player character.

I decided I wanted to have a "caper" adventure of some sort later in the game. The problem I was having is why would Relay bring the player with them besides the lame "relay likes you" excuse?

Making up a quality for the player out of the blue breaks the head canon of the game player, so inspired by Cyberpunk 2077, I came up with 3 to choose from at the beginning of the game:

A techie character who knows a lot about the latest technology, specifically about AI devices. I've already established that Relay uses an advanced AI of questionable origin, so one player choice is an actual expert.

A character who grew up in a rich family. Unlike Ariane in Paradise where the rich character has access to a lot of money, this one got disinherited and struggles for money, but has deep personal connections on the rich side of the tracks.

I struggled to figure out a third (rule of threes, you have to have three) but borrowed from "Finding Miranda" and gave the character a gift for solving problems. I decided to tie this in with my recent interest in "Creativity" as a key component for the future. I may make puzzles easier if you pick this origin.

Each origin also covers a theme I'm hoping to cover in this game. Each origin story introduces that theme in an interesting way, ending with "You really need a girlfriend" message which introduces Relay as a potential girlfriend.

I'm also including some test pics for the next section of the game that I am writing now: A futuristic "river walk" area that focuses on explaining Haven to the player, and an "Art Studio" where you and Relay take an art class.